Costumer



R. H. NEBEL GOSTUMER Filed Aug. 24, 1955 INVENTOR F/THHMBEL BY I , ari I ATTORNEY Patented July 16, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COSTUMER Ruth H. Nebel, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Application August 24, 1933, Serial No. 686,560

3 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes racks or supports and has particular relation to that particular variety of clothes support called a costumer.

In hanging up articles of clothing such as coats,

5 hats, or thelike, at the home, ofiice, hotel, and so on, it is the usual practice to provide costumers in the form of a standard supported on legsto give the costumer stability, and to provide a number of hooks at the upper end of the standard for a 10 supporting the articles of' clothing. As a usual thing the four hooks usually found on such devices are'adequate for taking care of these articles of clothing under normal conditions, but at times it is very desirable that additional facilities be provided for taking care of the above articles when there are more than the usual number of people present; as, for instance, in a hotel during meal times, or at other places where a large number of people sometimes congregate.

I have accordingly devised a costumer which, under usual conditions, has the appearance of the ordinary costumer, but which, when necessary, may be expanded by spreading the halves of the costumer apart and providing an extra rod for accommodating a large number of coat hangers, hooks for hats, and the like. I

Ageneral object of the invention is to provide a simple, compact, strong and efiicient costumer which may be closed for supporting a few articles 30 of wearing apparel or may be extended to accommodate a great number of articles;

Another object of the invention is to provide a costumer of the above character which can be an'ordinary costumer, and in which the extend- .ing parts may be folded into suitable cavities in' the uprights of the costumer.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for preventing the parts of the standards from spreading when the costumer is in extended position, thereby permitting the use of a single rod which acts as a clothes rack and also to hold 50 the standards apart.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved means for clamping the two parts of the costumer together which is simple and unobtrusive.

Other and further features and objects of my readily opened and closed with a minimum of i of the spreader rod I6 and 3a used with the costumer;

invention will be more apparent to' those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following specification, wherein is disclosed an exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the understanding, however,

that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claimswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a costumer constructed according to my invention with the device in closed position. 1

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the costumer shown in Figure 1 but in its open or extended position.

Figure 3 is a View in elevation of the joint of the horizontally extending rod shown in Figure 2. a 7

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the joint shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the connection between the rod and one of the halves of the upright standard, and 1 Figure 6 is a view in elevation of a modified form of joint for a rod such as that shown in Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawing, a costumer constructed according to my invention has the usual four supporting legs indicated at it, an upright standard H to which the legs are fastened, and is provided with the usual hooks I 2 at the upper end thereof. However, the standard and two of the legs are split as indicated by the dividing line shown at [3, so that the two halves may be separated, as shown in Figure 2.

Complementary cavities l4 and I 4a are provided in the inner faces of each of the halves H and Ila respectively, and these cavities extend from near the top of the standard to a point approximately half way down the standard. The length of the cavity, of course, may be varied according to the length of the halves which is to. be

The spreader rods or spreaders l6 and Ilia may be of wood or metal, but are preferably of metal pipe so as to afford a firm support when the costumer is extended. The outer ends of the rods are pivotally engaged to the standard'halves H and'lla as indicated at IT and Ila, respectively, so that the spreader pipes may be folded down into the respective cavities I4 and Ha.

I prefer to provide pins I8, shown to better advantage in Figure 5, within the respective cavi-' Cil :means. .of pipe or rod, as indicated at 3!, the outside diameter of which is less than the inside diameter ties of the halves of the standard, and corresponding pins l9, near the outer ends of the Spreaders. These pins are preferably connected by means of links 2! and the links 2! have slots 22 therein for engaging the pins l8 and [9. The pins iii are closer to the pivots ll than are the pins l8, in order that when the spreaders are folded into the cavities the links 2i will drop downwardly into the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5, so as not to interfere with the spreader .or spreader parts. When the spreader is in extended position, the pins 58 and is are prevented from moving any farther apart than the length of the slot 22 will permit, and thus the standards are prevented from spreading apart at the base.

Suitable cavities are provided on the inner faces of the legs Ill and llia as indicated at 23 and inwardly projecting legs 2% are provided in order to afford additional braces for the stand- Yard's when the standard halves are located in the extended position. These legs 2d and 2410, are placed instag'gered position so that the leg 24a closed position; 7

I may utilize any one of several means for joining the halves of the rod l6 at the inner ends thereof. One of the means is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. In this hinge structure, complementary sleeves 25 :and 25a are located on the inner ends of the spreader pipes i i and lEa, respectively, and each of these sleeves is provided witlra pair .of upwardly and inwardly extending hinge members 2T'and 21a. These hinge members a're joined by a pivot pin 28'.

as.indica'tediatlfi,but, of course, would not support a load without some additional supporting I accordingly provide'a smaller section of the pipe 560., so that the pipe 3! may be slid back and forth in .the spreader pipes i5 and liia. :..I provide a slot 32 on the lower side of the inner end of the pipe Via and utilize a pin 33, which is set into the pipe 31 and extends through the slot 32, for moving the pipe 35 back and forth. In the extended position of the costumer, the

hinge may be broken to permit the rods l5 and lfiato be swung into their respective cavities. It is apparent that the hinge members 2i and .Zlarnust project upwardly so that when the costumer is in folded position, the two halves of the standard may be closely joined together.

' A modified form of hinge connection is shown in -Figure 6. Inthis hinge connection the inner ends of the pipes [Eb and lscare flattened, as

indicated at 34, and these ends are .joined by means of a link 35 which'has pivoted connection withthe ends of the spreader pipes Nib and ific by means of pivot pins 37. A sleeve ie of suflicien't inside diameter to slide back and forth on the outside of pipes Nib and M50, is slid over the hingefstructure, just described, when it is desired to make the joint between the spreader halves rigid. The link .Bliis of sufiicient length. that, when the costumer is in the folded position, the

"rods I62) and are permitted to fold into the respective cavities and 14a.

It is preferable that some locking means be employed for locking the costumer halves together. A preferred structure is shown in Figure 1. I preferably provide two hooks 38 on opposite sides of the standard at the joint [3 between the standard halves. These hooks appear to be of usual construction but are actuallypivotally attached to one of the standard halves at their bases, as indicated at 39, and are provided with slots M in the other part of the base in opposed relation to the pivots '39. Pins 4-2 are provided in the other half of the standard, so located that when the hooks are swung into normal upright position, the slots will engage the 62 to lock the two halves together if the halves are inclosed position. Stop pins 43 prevent the hooks 38 from rotating beyond the upright position.

Optional means for locking the costumer halves together, in a folded position, areprovided by a locking device shown'in'Figure 2 in which thumb screws and 45 are used. These thumb screws are located respectively near the bottom and top of the standards If and l'la.

The screw "44 is of the conventional type, hay "ing a knurled thumb nut portion by means of which the screw may be manually turned. A

threaded portion 46 of the screw 44 extends through anopening in the standard Ila. The

screw &5 is positioned near the top of the stand- '5 ard Ila and the threaded portion 4! thereof is adapted tobe engaged in a second tapped ferrule is'located in the innerside of the standard H at a corresponding position near the top thereof.

If the two halves'of the-costumer are "moved into a substantially folded position the. threaded portions 46' and '41 of the screws and 45 may be caused to engage the tapped ferrules 48 and 49 whereby the standards 'II and Ha may be drawn firmly together by turning the knurled thumb nut portions of the screws/'44 and 45.

It is apparent that I have provided a costumer which has the appearance, while in folded position, of an ordinary costumer, but which may be extended to afford a much greater capacity for supporting clothes; By means of the bracing and additional support members I am enabled to secure this result with only one rod between the parts of the device. The hinge members are strong and afford a rigid support when thecostumer is in extended position, but by reason of the hinge construction, the halves of the rod may be folded entirely into the cavities in the standard. All of the parts of the device are connected at all times and need not bedismounted from the structure, and thus cannot be lost.

, It is apparent that modifications may be made by those skilled'in the art. Forinstance' the legs of the costumer may be considerablyfvaried in form and structure, in order to provide an orna-' mental and graceful design. Such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a. costumerincluding a pair of standards, rods pivotally connected to the standards at their outer ends, a hinge 'for-connectingth'e inner ends of the rods, and means for preventing spreading threaded portion 46 is adapted to be received in or the bottoms of the-standards whenthe-costumer is in extended position comprising a slotted link and a pair of pivot pins one of which is located in the standard and the other of which is located on the rod, the pin on the rod being at a greater distance than the other from the pivot connection of the rod with the standard, so that the link may revolve to a depending position when the rods are folded into the standards and additional bracing means for the standards when the costumer is in extended position comprising inwardlyextending legs, the inwardly-extending legs on the respective'standards being staggered with respect to each other, and the base of the standard having cavities into which the inwardly extending legs may be received when the costumer is in closed position.

2. In a costumer including a standard divided into halves, means for locking the halves together comprising a clothes hook pivotally attached to one half, a pin in the other half, and a slot in the base of the hook adapted to engage the pin whereby the hook may be rotated on its pivot to cause the slot to engage the pin to hold the halves together.

3. In a costumer including a pair of standards, rods pivotally connected to the standards at their outer ends, a hinge for connecting the inner ends of the rods, and means for preventing spreading of the bottoms of the standards when the costumer is in an extended position comprising an inwardly extending leg on each of the standards, the inwardly extending legs on the respective standards being staggered with respect to each other, and the base of the standard having cavities into which the inwardly extending legs may be received while the costumer is in closed position.

' RUTH H. NEBEL. 

